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redhot_nyc · Feb 4, 2006, 09:39 PM

For old Macs with limited RAM/Processor speed, which Web/Email apps are best?

I'm running a Wallstreet with 256MB RAM, OS 10.4.4
Firefox seems to use 10mb less RAM but slightly more processor than Safari
Thunderbird seems to use more RAM than mail

I'd use a command-line email client but dunno if any will do IMAP and Gmail

By the way, 10.4.4 is working astonishingly well on this old 'Book.

mduell · Feb 4, 2006, 09:53 PM

Mutt and Pine (the only two text-based email clients I can think of) both support IMAP and Gmail (which is just POP3).

angelmb · Feb 5, 2006, 05:34 AM

And for older Macs running older System / Mac OS versions you can rely on the iCab browser.

Big Mac · Feb 5, 2006, 06:21 AM

redhot, how in the world did you get Tiger to run on a Wallstreet? Isn't that essentially impossible?

monkeybrain · Feb 5, 2006, 06:56 AM

Camino could be a good choice of browser to use, Gmail works well in it too if you don't mind using the web interface.

redhot_nyc · Feb 6, 2006, 08:32 PM

Originally Posted by Big Mac

redhot, how in the world did you get Tiger to run on a Wallstreet? Isn't that essentially impossible?

I used XpostFacto to get Tiger running on Wallstreet. It runs much more reliably than 10.2 ever did (and that was "supported"!)

I put the HD in a TiBook and did the install. (It would probably be better to put it in an external Firewire enclosure)
I have a Series II Wallstreet which seems to have Open Firmware (i.e. it's not "Old World" as you might think) and is running Tiger (10.4.4) like a champ.
It's got 2 PCMCIA slots so I have a wireless card in one, and a flash memory reader in the other. IMHO it should out-last any Lombard, Pismo or iBook G3.

I'm currently using the Apple Extended Keyboard II and Apple Desktop Bus Mouse

Rainy Day · Mar 16, 2006, 06:18 PM

Originally Posted by redhot_nyc

I used XpostFacto to get Tiger running on Wallstreet. It runs much more reliably than 10.2 ever did (and that was "supported"!)

It was my experience that Panther ran much better on my Wallstreet than Jaguar ever did. Ironic that the last officially supported version of MacOS is less stable on that old hardware than the “unsupported” versions! Anyhow, good to hear Tiger works well too; i’m thinking of upgrading from Panther. I’ll probably turn Spotlight off, however, using the /etc/hostconfig method.

Originally Posted by redhot_nyc

I put the HD in a TiBook and did the install. (It would probably be better to put it in an external Firewire enclosure)

Were you using the TiBook as an HD in target mode, or did you do the install from the TiBook? The distinction is important because if it’s the latter, your HD could be configured wrong. On the Wallstreet, the boot partition must reside wholly within the first 8 Gb of the drive. If the TiBook was just acting like an HD and the install was done from the Wallstreet, a check was made to ensure this was the case, however if the TiBook was running the installer, the check would not have been made.

While it is possible to install and boot from an HD which is not properly configured, if certain files get moved beyond or straddle the 8Gb boundary, disaster will occur.

Originally Posted by redhot_nyc

I have a Series II Wallstreet which seems to have Open Firmware (i.e. it's not "Old World" as you might think) and is running Tiger (10.4.4) like a champ.

I too have a Series II Wallstreet. The ROM’s are actually Old World, even though there is a limited Open Firmware implementation in the machine. It is because of the Old World ROM’s that the 8Gb limit exists. This is a problem not only for MacOS X, but other flavors of Unix as well.

Rainy Day · Mar 18, 2006, 04:05 PM

I wrote extensively about my experiences installing Tiger on a Wallstreet. I think Tiger is the best OS for these old machines, bar none.

As for which browser to use on a Wallstreet, Safari, Camino and iCab are my favorites (and sometimes FireFox).

I’m running with 320 Mb of RAM, but noticed that Other World Computing has some good prices on Wallstreet RAM these days. Eventually, it’ll become more expensive as the RAM becomes harder to find.

wataru · Mar 18, 2006, 10:06 PM

Since you're running Tiger it's not a big deal, but one thing to consider is that ealier versions of OS X came with earlier versions of Safari, which are obviously not as widely compatible as the latest and greatest. For machines running 10.3 and earlier, I'd recommend a Gecko-based browser (Firefox, Camino, Seamonkey) because the newest version is still supported for 10.2 and higher.

Big Mac · Mar 18, 2006, 10:30 PM

That's really amazing. . . If so many are running Tiger well on their Wallstreets, it really inspires me to get a larger drive for my iBook 466 and upgrade to Tiger as well.

Scott Mackey · Mar 19, 2006, 02:02 PM

Yes, I honestly believe that many people put way too much emphasis on "needing" a faster (re: newer = more $$$) machine in order to run their everyday software efficiently. I purchased my two Macs (TiBook 667, eMac 700) early on in college about 4 years ago and both are running just fine today ... on modern software.

I think it's great you're using the Wallstreet (that's essentially a G3 PowerBook if I remember correctly) and are happy with it. Is it your primary computer?

Rainy Day · Mar 20, 2006, 03:47 PM

I agree. Mhz is not everything. I usually get 6-8 years out of each Mac i buy (been using them since 1984, and Apple ][’s since 1979). I still have some Quadra 605’s running OpenBSD as servers (those are early 1990’s vintage 25-30 Mhz 68040’s).

Yes, the Wallstreet is a G3 PowerBook. It is the last model before USB was introduced, so it still has ADB and SCSI (although it supports USB and FireWire via CardBus cards). I used it as my primary computer up until about 8 months ago. Using a 1.25Ghz Mac mini now. Amazingly, for many tasks, the Wallstreet running Tiger seems nearly as fast as the mini. However this is comparing a souped up Wallstreet (HD & RAM) with a stock mini doing pedestrian tasks like web surfing, word processing, etc. There are applications where the mini clearly outperforms the ol’ Wallstreet. I wouldn’t want to even try to run iMovie, iDVD nor Garageband on the Wallstreet (and i suspect they wouldn’t run on it).

However if i updated the mini’s HD and brought it up to 1Gb RAM, it would probably perform much better. The two most important speed enhancements for MacOS X are RAM and a fast HD. CPU speed is much less a factor, unless you’re doing a lot of computational intensive work (which most people don’t).

Don Pickett · Mar 20, 2006, 05:10 PM

I have been using the G3-optimized version of Deerpark on my Pismo. After reinstalling the OS (had to partition the drive to put Ubuntu on there) I didn't find any speed difference between Safari and Deerpark. I was surprised how fast Safari was on the machine.

houstonmacbro · Nov 18, 2006, 04:33 PM

Originally Posted by redhot_nyc

For old Macs with limited RAM/Processor speed, which Web/Email apps are best?

I'm running a Wallstreet with 256MB RAM, OS 10.4.4
Firefox seems to use 10mb less RAM but slightly more processor than Safari
Thunderbird seems to use more RAM than mail

I'd use a command-line email client but dunno if any will do IMAP and Gmail

By the way, 10.4.4 is working astonishingly well on this old 'Book.

dang, i didn't even know that model could run os x.